Lea Michele was living her dream as Glee's resident drama queen, dating the quarterback on-screen and off. Then, Cory Monteith's tragic death shattered her world.

On how she's handling Cory Monteith's death:
"I never thought I would be in this position in my whole life. Now that I am in this position, you can choose to rise, and that's what I'm going to try to do. I know that Cory would want nothing more than for me to take this situation and use it to help people."

On relying on friend Kate Hudson during the difficult time after Monteith's passing:
"I called [Kate Hudson] and said, 'I don't know where I'm going to go because my house is swarmed [with reporters].' She was like, 'Oh, you're going to stay at my house.' Like it was nothing. No one knew I was there. I'll never really be able to thank her, truly, for what she did for me."

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On adding to her as yet untitled solo record, a mix of anthemic pop songs and ballads:
"The album was done, and the label said, 'Do you want to add anything?' I was like, 'I might regret it if I don't.'"

On the song "You're Mine" on Michele's upcoming album:
"It makes me so happy, this song. It makes me think so much of Cory. It was ours. When I think of him, I play this."

On why she never expected her career in television to take off:
"I was told my whole life I would never do television because I was too ethnic. I was 100 percent focused and ready to be the best in the world [of Broadway] I was in."

Read the full interview in Elle's December issue on newsstands November 19!